September 03 2010

Public Diplomacy: What It Is, Why It’s Needed and How It Could Work Well for America Again

3d_max_Abstract_by_zokamaricPart One By Patricia H. Kushlis and Patricia Lee Sharpe

This is the first of a four part series that will, on successive Wednesdays, (1) define some of the special characteristics and powers of public diplomacy as such, (2) examine some of the missteps that have brought American public diplomacy into disrepute and made it ineffectual, (3) look at some demonstrably successful best practices that may form the basis of a rehabilitated public diplomacy capacity and (4) suggest some organizational reforms that would integrate public diplomacy insights into the foreign policy process in ways that would enormously enhance U.S. interactions with the world.

Read more: WhirledView

September 01 2010

China, Greece ink agreement on cultural exchange

Greek and Chinese authors and publishing housesTuesday signed a cultural exchange agreement to promote book publications in both languages.

Two children’s books will be published according to the agreement.

One is written by a Greek author and illustrated by a Chinese illustrator. The other is written by a Chinese author and illustrated by a Greek illustrator. The two books will be published simultaneously in Greece and China.

Giorgos Poussaios, general secretary for Tourism of Greece, said Greece hopes to enhance cooperation in culture, tourism and other areas of common interest with China. He hailed the cultural exchange agreement as an important step towards the goal.

“We hope that through the books and our presence at the Shanghai Expo, Chinese people will learn more about Greek culture,” Poussaios said.

“We welcome all Chinese to visit Greece,” he added.

Sun Shoushan, deputy head of the General Administration of Press and Publication, said the agreement underlies the cultural exchange between the two ancient civilizations.

The agreement is part of China’s national reading program, which introduces foreign books to Chinese children, parents and teachers.

The two countries have intensified cultural exchange in literature in recent years.

As guest of honor, China attended the 7th Thessaloniki Book Fair, a major book event in Greece, in 2010 while Greece participated in the Beijing International Book Fair in 2008 as the guest of honor.

China Global Times (September 1, 2010)

 

August 27 2010

Understanding Social Media’s Contribution to Public Diplomacy

 The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to announce that Melanie Ciolek, MPD ‘11, is the winner of the 2010 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper in Public Diplomacy. Her paper, entitled “Understanding Social Media’s Contribution to Public Diplomacy” is an examination of the U.S. Department of State’s use of Facebook to increase the visibility and impact of President Obama’s planned visit to Indonesia.

Selected from a number of excellent nominations made by faculty in the Master of Public Diplomacy (MPD) program at the University of Southern California, Melanie’s paper underscores the importance of understanding the PD role of social media. Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy remarked, “This excellent paper provides valuable insight into the ways that Facebook and other social media can serve as tools of public diplomacy. Officials at the U.S. State Department would be wise to read this paper and find ways to apply its lessons.”

Matt Armstrong, adjunct faculty in the MPD program and Melanie’s professor stated that her paper provides “a unique and valuable examination of the utility of social media in public diplomacy. She includes primary research, including the planners and executors of the outreach through social media, and strong analysis of the challenges and advantages of engagement through social media as led by Embassy Jakarta.”

To read the full paper, click here.

To read the 2009 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper, click here.

August 26 2010

Inside a Social Media-savvy Government Department

Hear the words “Foreign and Commonwealth Office” and you might think of fusty old English ambassadors sat behind oaken desks reading leather-bound books. It turns out they’re more likely to be tweeting a link to their latest Flickr photo set these days.

The UK government may have a shaky reputation with social media but one department that seems to be particularly successful is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It’s active on Facebook (in multiple languages), has numerous Twitter accounts, shares photos on Flickr and uses YouTube, with many of Britain’s embassies around the world each having their own accounts too.

A recent development has seen the department encouraging developers to use its RRS feeds in creative ways. Meanwhile, a recent Tweetminster study found that it was the most mentioned and retweeted government department on Twitter during the first hundred days of the current government.

THE NEXT WEB UK, (AUGUST 25, 2010)

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August 26 2010

International journalists visit Finland

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited 21 newly graduated or graduating journalism students to Finland to participate in the four-week-long Foreign Correspondents’ Programme during August. The international group includes young journalists from Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Germany, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, Ukraine, and the United States.

The programme aims at deepening the understanding of Finland and to create a positive attitude towards it. In the long run it is an investment into future media relations that are an integral part of the Ministry’s public diplomacy.

Helsinki Times (August 25, 2010)
Read more: International journalists visit Finland

August 23 2010

The future of US power

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eagletBy Joseph S. Nye, Special to Gulf News

The United States government’s National Intelligence Council projects that American dominance will be “much diminished” by 2025, and that the one key area of continued American superiority – military power – will be less significant in the increasingly competitive world of the future.  The leader of Canada’s opposition Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, suggests that US power has passed its mid-day. How can we know if these predictions are correct?

One should beware of misleading metaphors of organic decline. Countries are not like humans with predictable life spans. Indeed, for all the fashionable predictions of China, India, or Brazil surpassing the US in the coming decades, in an information-based world of cyber-insecurity, power diffusion may be a greater threat than power transition (Gulf News, September 12, 2009).

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August 20 2010

Το «καλό» Ελληνικό όνομα

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Πόσο άλλαξε η εικόνα της Ελλάδας στα μάτια των ξένων τους τελευταίους μήνες της οικονομικής κρίσης; Έχασε η χώρα μας ότι είχε κερδίσει σε φήμη με τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες;

greece-eotΗ Σοφία Παπαϊωάννου παρουσιάζει μια έρευνα που έγινε αποκλειστικά για τους «Νέους Φακέλους» για την εικόνα της Ελλάδας στον κόσμο, και ακόμα απαντά στο πώς αυτή εξελίχθηκε διαχρονικά, πως προβάλλεται στο εξωτερικό τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες και ποια είναι τα λάθη που έγιναν μέχρι σήμερα. Ειδικοί σε θέματα διαμόρφωσης εικόνας από την Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό εξηγούν στην κάμερα των «Νέων Φακέλων» γιατί ο Ζορμπάς από το πρότυπο του εξωστρεφούς και ανέμελου Μεσόγειου μετατράπηκε στον τεμπέλη και κλέφτη Νεοέλληνα και μιλούν για τα βήματα που πρέπει να κάνει η χώρα προκειμένου να κερδίσει ξανά το χαμένο έδαφος. Ακόμα, ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού Παύλος Γερουλάνος μιλά στη Σοφία Παπαϊωάννου για το σχέδιό του να βγάλει την Ελλάδα από την αφάνεια.

[...] Πως όμως διαμορφώθηκε η φήμη της Ελλάδας στην νεότερη ιστορία; Ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού Παύλος Γερουλάνος θεωρεί ότι η εικόνα της χώρας μας ξεκίνησε στραβά από την ίδρυση κιόλας του ελληνικού κράτους.
“Γιατί τότε ήρθαν ξένοι στην Ελλάδα και προσπάθησαν να επιβάλουν πάνω στην Ελλάδα μια ταυτότητα, η οποία ταυτότητα όμως δεν ήταν πραγματική. Δεν είμαστε απλά απόγονοι των αρχαίων Ελλήνων. Η Ελλάδα είχε μια πολύ μεγάλη εξέλιξη μέσα από την ιστορία της, το οποίο της έδινε μια ταυτότητα πάρα πολύ πιο πλούσια από αυτό….ήρθαν λοιπόν ξένοι, ισοπέδωσαν αυτήν την ταυτότητα, και είπαν ότι οι Έλληνες είναι απόγονοι των αρχαίων. Αυτό και εμάς μας δημιούργησε δυσκολίες στο πώς βγαίναμε προς τα έξω.” [...]

Ο Simon Anholt πιστεύει ότι το μεγαλύτερο πρόβλημά που έχουμε οι Έλληνες είναι ότι δεν έχουμε καταλάβει ότι καθόμαστε πάνω σε μία χώρα θησαυρό.

“Μερικές φορές, όταν βλέπω τον τρόπο που επικοινωνεί η Ελλάδα με τον έξω κόσμο, νιώθω ότι αυτό που της λείπει πραγματικά είναι η αυτοπεποίθηση. Έχει χάσει τον στόχο, την κατεύθυνσή της και νομίζω ότι είναι πολύ σημαντικό να την ξαναβρεί. Οι Ιταλοί έχουν μια υπέροχη παροιμία που λέει «όποιος γίνεται πρόβατο, τον τρώει ο λύκος». Έτσι είναι η ανθρώπινη φύση, κι όταν βλέπω τον τρόπο που επικοινωνεί η Ελλάδα βλέπω ένα υπέροχο, ξεχωριστό έθνος που φέρεται σαν να μην πιστεύει ότι είναι υπέροχο και ξεχωριστό. Είναι πολύ δύσκολο να αγαπήσεις κάποιον που δεν ξέρει πώς να αγαπά τον εαυτό του, κι ίσως αυτό να είναι μέρος του προβλήματος.” [...]

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